| Indication | For use as a single agent in the palliative treatment of patients with persistent or recurrent ovarian cancer following first-line therapy with a cisplatin and/or alkylating agent-based combination. |
| Pharmacodynamics | Altretamine is a novel antineoplastic agent. The precise mechanism by which altretamine exerts its cytotoxic effect is unknown, although a number of theoretical possibilities have been studied. Structurally, altretamine resembles the alkylating agent triethylenemelamine, yet in vitro tests for alkylating activity of altretamine and its metabolitics have been negative. Altretamine has been demonstrated to be efficacious for certain ovarian tumors resistant to classical alkylating agents. Metabolism of altretamine is a requirement of cytotoxicity. Synthetic monohydroxymethylmelamines, and products of altretamine metabolism, in vitro and in vivo, can form covalent adducts with tissue macromolecules including DNA, but the relevance of these reactions to antitumor activity is unknown. |
| Mechanism of action | The precise mechanism by which altretamine exerts its cytotoxic effect is unknown although it is classified as an alkylating anti-neoplastic agent. Through this mechanism, the drug is metabolized into alkylating agents by N-demethylation. These alkylating species consequently damage tumor cells. |
| Absorption | Not Available |
| Volume of distribution | Not Available |
| Protein binding | 94% |
| Metabolism | Not Available |
| Route of elimination | Human urinary metabolites were Ndemethylated homologues of altretamine with <1% unmetabolized altretamine excreted at 24 hours. |
| Half life | 4.7-10.2 hours |
| Clearance | Not Available |
| Toxicity | Not Available |